Excuse me one second while I scream “EEEEEEEK!” at the top of my lungs, because that’s exactly how I felt when I first saw Laura & Harry’s eco-friendly, vintage-heavy, Rock n Roll inspired backyard wedding. Oh yes, I really do love to feature true Rock n Roll Bride weddings – ie weddings of those that I was able to help and inspire with my little blog. Laura & Harry actually found their fabulous photographer Rosie Parsons and Laura’s gorgeous vintage Fur Coat No Knickers dress after seeing them on the site. Yey!
The vintage theme was infused with A Midsummer’s Nights Dream/literary vibe. The ceremony was held outdoors and all the guests sat on benches in Laura’s Dad’s back garden in Devon. As part of the ceremony, Laura and Harry also planted a tree in the garden and invited all their guests to fill it in with earth which will give them a lasting memory for the two of them every time they visit Laura’s Dad.
The reception was held in giant yurts and was catered by the Utterly Sexy Cafe. They created the perfect atmosphere with the fresh and healthy food and vintage china table decor. Amanda from Utterly Sexy Cafe also created the fabulous wedding cake, which was made custom made for the couple based on their wedding theme.
I had a lovely chat with the bride and she went into great detail about their wedding and how they found their suppliers (ahem Rock n Roll Bride!) soI wanted to share some snippets with you. She is adorable!
“The cliche that you constantly hear when you’re planning a wedding on a budget is ‘remember, it’s just one day’, and it’s true, but the money that you spend on photographs is the one exception” Laura bagan. “They are the things that you want to show your grandchildren! Once I’d realised that, I started looking for a photographer who loved the same things as we did; details, candid shots of guests, nothing too formal. I was trying really hard to keep all the suppliers as local as possible, but at the same time I didn’t want to feel like I had compromised. When I saw some of Rosie’s pictures on your blog I squealed when I saw that she was based in Devon! Rosie’s wide-angled shots of the garden and the interior of the yurts really captured the look of the day, and I feel like she really got a sense for us as a couple with the shots in the field and by the barn door.”
“I was also really taken with this wedding which I saw on Rock n Roll Bride. I saw that her dress was from a shop called Fur Coat No Knickers just off Carnaby Street and spent my next day off with Emma and Laura. What I loved most about the wedding you featured was the buttery, creamy colours of the fabric, which reminded me of a dress I’d worn the first time Harry took me out for dinner. I tried on loads of dresses at FCNK, having a complete blast, and finally tried on a dress that Emma and Laura called ‘the grown-up dress’, which was a Dior-style dress from the fifties that seemed to have a knack of making the people that tried it on look older. To be honest, I was just trying it on for fun, but we were all really taken aback by how well it suited me, and didn’t make me look old! The dress also had beautiful details; embroidered roses at on the skirt, and a really cute little collar at the neck. And it was that beautiful buttery colour!”
“I wore it a string of pearls that I had inherited from my Granny, and Laura and Emma made a gorgeous little veil with vintage veiling and fabric flowers, and a petticoat edged with latte coloured ribbon. My bridesmaids were completely amazing; I gave them some money and a colour and they each bought a dress and shoes that they were happy to wear, looking absolutely gorgeous in a vintage dress from eBay, a TKMaxx number, and a skirt and top from a charity shop! They all looked completely amazing, and most importantly, I didn’t feel like I’d forced them into something they didn’t like.”
“The thing I’m most proud of is that we did things our way. We had a quick registry office wedding in the morning, and then organised a humanist ceremony in my dad’s garden in the afternoon. Working with Alison, our celebrant, we incorporated lots of things we cared about into the ceremony. I am a feminist and, although I wanted to arrive with my dad, I didn’t want to be ‘given away’, so we added a bit to the ceremony telling everyone that he was there not to hand me over, but as a representative of my family’s support of my choice to spend my life with Harry. Our ceremony also mentioned everything we love as a couple, and we wrote our own vows, and instead of the celebrant declaring us man and wife, all our friends and family who were watching did!”
“After the ceremony, Harry and I planted a tree in the garden and everyone there added a trowel of earth to symbolise their support for our marriage. It was magical. After that we had champagne, a really amazing meal in the yurts and a ceilidh, after which everyone got out their iPods and we had an indie/cheesy disco in one of the yurts and a camp fire outside. The best thing was that all the guests camped in the garden, so we kept partying till late! Nearly everything was local, even the beer! So I hope that we were as eco-friendly as possible.”
Thanks to Rosie, Laura & Harry for sharing this incredible wedding with us today. I have a feeling this is going to be a popular post!
